The accident

"The accident," as many Alderaanians referred to it, was when Princess Breha Organa of Alderaan fell on her way down the Alderaanian mountain Appenza Peak while completing her Challenge of the Body. Organa suffered from injuries that nearly killed her if not for the quick action of the guards who had been watching from a distance.

Organa survived and had to have her heart and lungs replaced with pulmonodes, though, unlike most people, she choose not to go through the bacta sessions necessary to grow new flesh and skin around them; instead she decided to keep them as a physical reminder that she lived, though people said that she was "too showy".

Although she fell from the mountain, Organa had still completed her Challenge of the Body, as she had reached the peak, and was therefore officially invested as crown princess and eventually succeeded her mother as queen of Alderaan.

The accident and the strain on the queen's body contributed to the decision later made by Organa and her husband Bail to adopt rather than have biological children.

Years later, Alderaanians still spoke of the accident in hushed tones and in 3 BBY Organa joined her adoptive daughter Leia Organa in climbing Appenza Peak for her own Challenge of the Body where she briefly spoke of the accident with her. Leia remembered her mother's accident in 4 ABY while on the moon Madurs during her honeymoon with Han Solo, noting that as much as people loved a love story that the only thing people loved more than a hero was a fallen hero. That the more she was celebrated, the more people would look for her flaws to exploit and use them to topple her image. This reminded Leia of her mother and her fall as Leia realized that every moment of joy was only raising her higher, so that when she inevitably fell, it would be harder.

Text and facts from the “The accident” article on Wookieepedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Modified for this site.